"What will sustain this industry is someone to act as gatekeeper and taste-maker. Don’t give me more. Give me less and make it good, and you’ll be in business forever."

And that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be words in a book that you're editing. Everyone is an editor in some way, and the more you can pare something down to its essence, the more people will appreciate it.

For instance, Gladwell referenced how he thinks that Steve Jobs was more of an editor than inventor — an idea he first posited in a New Yorker article last year.

There will always be a need for people to refine things, whether they're the CEO of a company, a newspaper editor, or an accountant. Just make things better.